


What Whitebeard knew

by R_4_L



Category: One Piece
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-14 21:43:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15398088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/R_4_L/pseuds/R_4_L
Summary: So one day I was watching a number of One Piece AMV's and there was a really good one focusing on Whitebeard and his story (sorry I can't remember who created it) and it got me thinking:What else did Whitebeard and Gol D Roger talk about?Did Whitebeard tell anyone about the 'Will of D'? Teach? Ace? Shanks? Marco?What else did Whitebeard know about Ace's family and background?Did Whitebeard know about Ace before his joined the crew?What does Shanks know about it all?





	What Whitebeard knew

**Author's Note:**

> One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda, this is written for fun only.

The sea was a fickle mistress, but she was one who stole your heart and by God she was beautiful. Edward leaned out over the rail and watched the waves. He watched the blue sky against the blue ocean.

"Hey Edward." 

He turned just in time to catch the canvas bag tossed his way. He liked the way it sounded as he caught it. Tossing it in the air again, the blonde smiled as it jingled.

"What are you going to do with your share?"

Conversations like this were common on the ship. They'd find a treasure, fight other pirates, or take on the Navy and the spoils would be divided between them all. As soon as everyone was back on the ship and they were out of danger, talk turned to everyone's plans and dreams. Well his were different. He didn't want to rule the seas, or spend it on wine and women. No he wanted a family. Now that didn't mean he needed to get married and raise a passel of kids, but he wanted his own ship and a crew who felt like family. He'd seen it briefly. He'd been out here for a while now. 

"Newgate, I'd like a word if I could." He followed the Captain into his cabin. "Take a seat. Sake?"

"Thank you Captain." Edward sat and waited for the Captain to speak.

"Look Edward, I'm going to be frank here. I know that you're not happy and that you're looking for something more then you can find here. I suggest that when we next make landfall that you get off and find either another ship or get one of your own."

Edward couldn't say that he was surprised, he'd been ready to go his own way for a while now, he just wasn't sure how to go about it. He had too much respect for the Captain to try and take over his crew. He sipped his sake. He thought over the proposition such as it was.

"I won't make any trouble for you Captain. When we land, I'll leave quietly." Standing Edward gave a bow and went straight below deck. The next island was only a day or two away. He meant what he said. He wasn't going to cause any problems and he didn't want to fight, but in order to reach his dreams he was going to have to get stronger and he couldn't do that here.

 

***

Their paths had crossed a few times and while they were rivals of sorts, Edward had a lot of respect Gol Rogers. Rogers had a command of the seas that he was close to matching. He also had the sort of crew that Edward was building. A crew that would become his family. A crew that would protect one another and stand by each other's side. Whenever they crossed paths, the battle would be fair. So when he received a message from Rogers to meet alone on a near by island, he couldn't refuse. They'd both been at this game for decades now.

"But Captain Whitebeard, what if it's a trap?" 

Newgate let his hand rest on the head of his subordinate, "don't worry so." 

He walked off the ship and towards the meeting, carrying a bottle of good sake. If they were going to sit and talk, he was going to make sure there was some good sake there. The winding path up the hill lead him further and further away from the noise of the town below. Near the top, he spied Rogers sitting against a tree a bottle of sake at his side, just looking out at the sea below.

"Rogers?" He didn't want to interrupt, but he had been invited.

"Newgate! Come and join me." Rogers' voice was jovial and smile wide. "Isn't that the best view you've ever seen?"

"It never does get old." Edward sat down beside his rival and poured them both a cup of sake.

They sat quietly together just looking out over the horizon and the view of the sea below.

"I've disbanded the Rogers Pirates."

Newgate's head swung around to stare at him. Had he heard him right?

Rogers downed his sake and poured another. "Rayleigh knows my reasons. The rest of the crew....well some of them took it better then others."

Edward let out a laugh, "I bet that red haired kid fought you on it."

"Yeah, he did." Rogers joined in the laughter, "man that kid, he wanted to follow me no matter where I went."

"Can you blame him, he idolizes you." Newgate took the time to really look at the man beside him. Rogers was a little thinner but he had the same air around him. "Why disband?"

"We found Raftel, did I tell you? It was a wonderful journey. I could give you the location."

"Stop stalling, what's going on?"

"I'm dying, Newgate. Got a couple of months left. Been thinking of how I want to die. I always thought going quietly sounded great, the reality is, it sucks. This illness is going slowly eat away at me and I'll die by inches, most likely painfully. That's not the way I want to go."

Thinking about it, it sure the hell wasn't the way he wanted to go either. "Well. It's your decision Gold." Mentally he went over the members of the Rogers pirates that he knew, "I'll look out for your subordinates if I happen to run across any of them." He knew that a number of them would be fine on their own, but one or two were going to need guidance.

"Thanks, and the name's Gol not Gold."

"Really?" he thought for sure it was Gold Roger? Had he been getting it wrong all these years?

"Yeah, it's Gol D. Rogers. There's not many us left, those that have the Will of D, we're often hunted by the world government because of it."

"So just what is the will of D?" Edward refilled their cups and sat listened as Rogers explained just what it meant to carry the legacy of the 'Will of D'.

The two parted hours later, Edward was glad that he had come. They talked about Raftel, and while he was glad to learn that the place was real, he refused to learn it's location. The journey was what it was all about anyways. As for learning about the 'Will of D', well it was something to think about that was for sure. He could see why Rogers kept it a secret.

It was a month later that the Navy announced they had arrested Gol D. Rogers and had made plans for his public execution. The Whitebeard Pirates watched the execution, it was the end of one era and the beginning of another. Edward was sure he drank more than his share that night. The Navy may have thought they won, but Rogers had the last word and died the way he wanted to.

 

****

The kid was interesting. The way he fought and his strategies. The way the kid looked after those on his crew, well he'd make a fine addition.

"Marco, he's joining the crew."

"Doesn't look like he's too keen on the idea Pops." Marco looked at the man, a kid really and smiled. He could see the potential, he was a bright one, as soon as he realized he was outclassed maybe things would go a little smoother. Marco didn't always understand the reasoning behind Whitebeard's decisions but he would support them and stand behind the man he considered his father.

~

"Well Marco, Ace has been with us a month now, how do you see him fitting in?" Whitebeard was sitting in his cabin. The two of them were going over the plans for the upcoming weeks. What supplies they needed to purchase, what disputes needed to settled between crew members. 

Marco grinned, "the kid is good. He managed to settle a couple of arguments before they even got out of hand. Hell, I think he could have stopped them before they threw the first punch. Teach, doesn't seem to like him much, but everyone else listens when he talks."

That made Edward smile, "Marco, we're going to nurture that one." He didn't like to single people out, but when he saw talent he wanted to see it flourish. "There are things I need to confirm with the kid first, but I think given the right opportunities he could lead the next generation, and surpass me." 

Marco was going to refute that, but something in his Captain's eye had him holding his tongue. This was a situation where Newgate knew something more, something he wasn't sharing. "I'll watch him and help guide him, but will you let me know your reasoning when you get confirmation?"

"Yeah, I just might." Whitebeard laughed. If his suspicions were correct, having Marco know might work in his favor. He had told Teach too much and now the guy had a chip on his shoulder and a bigger ego. "Let's give it another couple of weeks and see where we stand."

~

Marco was almost excited to meet with Pops for their monthly meeting. Granted they'd still have to go over the basics, but he'd seen the Captain and Ace in deep conversation on a number of occasions and hoped that he had gotten the information he needed.

"Marco, bring over the sake cups. We have more important things to talk about then the ship at the moment."

"You got the confirmation you were looking for?" The smile that broke across his Captain's face had Marco smiling too, "can you tell me what you've learned."

"Twenty three years ago I sat on a hill top on some small island and talked with Gol Rogers. He had just disbanded the Rogers Pirates. We talked for hours. He was dying Marco, and he wanted to do it on his terms, his plan was to let the Navy capture him. I guess that's more then a lot of us can ask for. He'd seen Raftel, offered to let me know where it was." he paused for a drink, letting the memories flow. "There was one Navy officer that he had respect for, Monkey D. Garp. Never had much to do with the guy myself, but then we haven't run across him much. Ace tells me that Garp had him raised with a group of mountain bandits that owed him a favor or two. You've heard Ace talk about his kid brother?"

Marco had trouble follow Pop's conversation. It seemed like he was pouncing around all over the place with it. "Yeah, Luffy isn't it? Man the stories Ace tells about that kid." The love Ace felt for his brother came through in every word.

"Luffy, I'll have to remember that. Anyway, it turns out that Luffy is Garp's grandson. Monkey D. Luffy. I also found out that who Ace's parents are. Portgas D. Rogue a woman of renowned strength and Gol D. Rogers the King of the Pirates."

There was silence for a bit while Marco let everything sink in. That was one hell of a pedigree Ace had. "He doesn't advertise it, are you sure old man?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Whitebeard looked out the porthole towards the sea beyond. "He has bad feeling towards his father, right now I can't say I blame him."

"Pops, there's something else I gotta ask," Marco had been thinking about this since the conversation started. "What's with the D? I meant there was Gol D Rogers, Monkey D. Garp; and we've got Marshall D. Teach, Portgas D. Ace and Ace's little brother Monkey D. Luffy."

"Ahh and there's another story I learned from Rogers. The 'Will of D' he called it. Only certain people carry it and those people have been persecuted through out history." He settled in to tell Marco what he knew. It would be good to have someone else who was not a D, know what the significance of the 'Will of D' was, beside Marco was one of the smartest men on his crew. "I've told two other people about this. One was likely a mistake."

"Teach?"

"Yeah. His ego is just too much right now, maybe you or Ace can tone him down. My hope is to make him your right hand man in time."

Marco could see that, Ace would make a great commander. "So who was the second person you talked to?"

"Red hair. Damn pup. Remember him as a rookie on Rogers ship, now he's an Emperor of the seas. Anyway I guess he knew Luffy as kid and Ace made mention that he needed to thank the bastard for looking after his kid brother. The last time he was here we talked. Turned out he figured some of it out himself. Rogers never told him anything. We've got a bet going as to just who might lead the next generation. Shanks thinks Ace's kid brother Luffy has a good shot, but I've got my money on Ace."

Marco walked out on deck. There on the deck below Ace was surrounded by the rest of the crew. They flocked to him. Marco didn't think Ace realized just how much the others looked up to him. They would gladly follow him. He'd put his money with Whitebeard behind Ace as the new leader of the next generation.

 

*****

Marco watched the little girl leave his office. Her leg was healing quite well, it'd be this time next week that he'd see her again to remove the stitches. Leaning against the door he watched her make her way slowly back towards her home in the village above. He was one of a handful of Whitebeard's former men who now called the island home. He was glad that the villagers were willing to help build a number of homes between the village proper and the harbor. Being the only Doctor he made sure that he kept himself available to everyone else. Of course the rest of the men had gone their own way upon the seas. He saw the ship anchored in the harbor. The flag was familiar, but since he hadn't been called, he guessed this was a social call. Two men walking up the path looked familiar. Shaking his head he left the front door open as he went inside and pulled out the booze and glasses. Well it wouldn't be long before the two of them arrived and he could see what they here for.

"Forgive our intrusion."

"Ben Beckmann and Red Hair Shanks, come in." Marco bowed to Shanks, "Shanks, first I must apologize for my previous behaviour. I was out of line. You have gone out of your way to make sure that both Whitebeard and Ace had a proper funeral and for bringing the Captain home."

Shanks sat down at the table, waving Marco to join them. "Think nothing of it Marco. I held Whitebeard in great respect, it was the least I could do. As for Ace, well Luffy considers him a brother and really that's all there is to it."

Marco poured them all a drink. "So what bring the Red Haired Pirates to our little island."

Beckman lit his cigarette. "A number of things actually. But first, how are you doing? How's the rest of his crew?"

Marco removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It's been almost three years now. Sure the first year was hell. We did a lot more fighting and a lot more defending then we have this last year. We had a meeting after the funeral and again a year later. Everyone was given a vote as to what they wanted to do. Many of Pop's commanders have gone their own way. Some wanted out and since Pops is laid to rest here I figured that this would be a great place to set up shop both as a doctor and as a base for everyone to come back to. I see the others occasionally. I'm the only Doctor here for the village, so I take care of the villagers. If anyone comes to the harbor with injured or the sick, I take care of them."

"I'm sure you've seen the news." Shanks gave a nod to the newspaper on the table.

"You mean the Straw Hats?" Marco looked at the newspaper on the table, he was sure the Strawhats were in there somewhere. There had been a lot of hype over Don Flamingo stepping down as a warlord for the World Government, then the retraction, then Deserossa. Marco just grinned, "you know Ace used to tell us stories about how his little brother would run off and do things without thinking. He complain about him being so wild and reckless. All the while the rest of us would sit there and think 'but Ace- that's you' and then Marineford happened. Luffy appeared out of nowhere and all we could really think was 'Here's Ace's brother, he's one to help'. It was later that Jozu mentioned all the prison gear, and when we found out that Luffy had first gone to Impel Down to break Ace out of there."

"Hold it, what?"

"You didn't know?" Marco wasn't surprised, Luffy didn't seem the type to brag about what he did and there was no way the Navy was going to let it out that Impel Down had been breached. His grin got larger as both Shanks and Beckmann settled down to listen. "Now I only have this second hand and the guys we heard it from weren't with Luffy from the start. I don't know how he made his way in, you'll have to talk to Luffy about that, but according to Jinbe; Boa Hancock had demanded an audience with Ace before agreeing to be present at his execution. I know that he fought Megellan there and was poisoned. Ivankov helped him recover and continue. At the lower levels he let out Jinbe and Crocodile and that a good friend of Luffy's stayed behind when they managed to get a Navy ship, in order to open the gates to Marineford."

The belly laugh from Shanks might have been surprising if Marco hadn't seen a similar reaction from Ace on numerous occasions. It was the tears that Beckmann wiped from his eyes that tugged at his heart. Ben's voice was rough with emotion, "that would be a hard choice for Luffy, to leave one friend behind to save his brother."

"From what I understand, Luffy didn't know until it was too late. When that kid appeared from the sky to save Ace," Marco just shook his head the memory still fresh in his mind, "I'd never met the kid, Ace never really said what he looked like, just that he had this kid brother, but I knew the second he open his mouth who he was."

"I almost wish I could've seen him fight. Luffy always did go all out." Shanks was walking down memory lane a bit, "I would've done anything I could though to save him the heartache of losing Ace."

"I don't know Shanks," Ben was a little more pragmatic, "I know losing Ace hurt him, however, we can't deny that he's gotten stronger because of it, but we should get back to our point."

"Right, so the other thing. Did Whitebeard talk to you about the 'Will of D'?" Shanks was looking a little nervous although Beckmann was as cool as ever.

"Are you asking to see if I'm going to pay up on your bet? Or because of some other reason?"

Shanks ran a hand through his hair almost as if he was embarrassed. "Oh yeah the bet. Well I can't say that I've won it yet, just that he's lost. Not that that was the way I wanted to lose but, well I guess you understand. No, I want to know what it is that you know and your take on it all. I figured that if Whitebeard talked to anyone on the crew it would be you."

Marco weighed his options, but there really was no reason to hold back. After all, Pops had told him that Shanks knew, "we talked about the 'Will of D' and what it meant. Honestly when I first learned about it I was in agreement with Pops. Ace had the charisma and brains to lead the next generation. He was a good strategist and could more then hold his own in a fight. But at Marineford I realized that Luffy had something something Ace was lacking. I'd say it was luck, but that doesn't quite feel right. Of course seeing the news, and hearing about his crew. Well they're something else too. To have come as far as he has with such a small crew." Marco shook his head in amazement. No, I know now that there are others out there that carry the Will of D, and would likely do a good job, but I'm thinking Luffy is the one to watch."

Shanks grabbed the bottled and poured another drink. "I'd like to think so, but he still needs to get a lot stronger. I'm glad that you know about the 'Will of D' and if you ever encounter Luffy or his crew, please make sure that you DON'T tell them about it. This is something that they are going to need to find out on their own."

 

Lying in bed that night, with his hands behind his head and his ankles crossed, Marco thought over everything that Red Haired Shanks had said and more importantly the things he hadn't. Beckmann had mentioned that there were a number of things they had wanted to talk to him about and yet they had only really touched on how he and Whitebeard's old crew were doing now that the man was gone, what he had known about the 'Will of D'. It was possible that because he hadn't brought certain topics that Shanks had assumed he was ignorant of them. Well Pops had often said you could die from too much information as easily as too little. Both Shanks and Beckmann had a handle on just what it was that he knew, if they wanted to tell him any more they knew where to find him.

"Monkey D. Luffy," Marco grinned as he spoke into the darkness as sleep gradually overtook him, "we'll have to see just types of trouble you can get into. It'll be an interesting reign to watch, King of the Pirates."


End file.
